croissants vs. jogging?

Discussion

It seems really amusing to me to picture the cultural differences by equipping one of the most meaningful scenes in the movie with such "symbols" as croissants and jogging. One must notice that when the baby is discovered, Pierre/Peter is about to go and buy croissants (French version) or he returns form jogging (American). I think this is remarkable in the sense that the uniqueness of the two cultures is illustrated in such a simple way. Moreover, the American version shows the significance of sports in the States by alluding to them three times (jogging, work out, frisbee). Do you think these simple images stress individuality of cultures clearly? Should there be more sophisticated metaphors used instead?

The intrusion of the croissants, or food, appears many times throughout the movie, shopping, when they cook ?rare steaks?. Equally so, the American version includes exercise. The difference in physique of the characters between the two movies adds to this. This seems to show a difference in cultures and what is more important. The food aspect of the French movie shows enjoyment on the level of direct external pleasures: not only the food, but also the sex, and alcohol. In the American version, maybe it is more so pleasures that are internalized, or at least not as directly felt. Exercise is known to release endorphins, but it takes quite a bit of work and effort to feel that. I don?t think that is the main reason though. It is more of a feel-good-about-yourself pleasure. Not only that, but it is also to be attractive to indirectly feel pleasure (again, more work is involved to achieve the pleasure).

Il est clair que le jogging est une "institution" dans les films US, je veux dire par là que la scène de la femme ou de l'homme qui part tôt le matin de chez lui,le dimanche ou même avant de partir au travail est récurant au cinéma. En France, les gens qui courent courent le dimanche, ça ne vient pas à l'idée des gens de se lever une heure plus tôt le matin pour aller courir, rentrer prendre sa douche et partir prendre le métro.
Il est vrai que même le dimanche, la plupart des Français préferrent les croissants au footing.